Pikachu Yellow 3DS XL Pokemon-Themed System Release Date Is March 24 2013 (USA) Alongside Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity (3DS)

The American box art for the Yellow 3DS XL Pikachu Edition!

The Pikachu 3DS XL is yellow in color (naturally) and features the adorable rat square and center in the middle of the front of the system. It will also include a 4GB SD Card and will cost $200. I’m pretty positive that this is the first yellow-colored Nintendo system since the Yellow Game Boy Color that came with Pokemon Yellow way back in the day! (i.e., 1999 I believe).

However it’s worth noting that the Pikachu 3DS XL system is NOT bundled with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity, the two are sold separately. Which is an odd decision, I’d think Nintendo would want to raise the profile of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series by including it with the yellow Pikachu 3DS.

Oooo very yellow!

Maybe Nintendo thinks that the Pikachu 3DS would go better with the upcoming Pokemon X & Y, and will bundle it with those games at a later date? Time will tell. Nintendo also recently released a special Fire Emblem: Awakening 3DS system bundle, for those who are keeping count.

This Pikachu 3DS-XL is a really neat looking system. I’ll definitely want to get my hands on it at some point!

As for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, it is the 3rd installment in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, which began on the Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team in 2006 (If “Mystery Dungeon” sounds familiar, that’s because it in itself is an RPG line of games developed by Chunsoft. Few of the games have made it to the West, but you may have heard of Chocobo Mystery Dungeon or “Chocobo’s Dungeon” or Siren the Wanderer, both titles in the “Mystery Dungeon” line).

A Blue Rescue Team version was also available for the original DS in 2006, making it one of the few games ever to get a simultaneous release on both Game Boy Advance and DS. The sequels followed in 2007 with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness for DS. An enhanced remake (similar to the extra-colored Pokemon editions like Yellow, Emerald, Crystal, and Platinum) was released in 2009 for DS called “Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky” that included updated features over the original Explorers of Time & Darkness games.

And finally that brings us to the 3DS game Gates to Infinity in 2013. It’s also worth noting that a WiiWare Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spin-off was released exclusively in Japan and no where else called “Blazing Adventure Squad”, “Stormy Adventure Squad” and “Light Adventure Squad” (different versions).

All Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games are a subset of RPG called a “Roguelike”. These games are normally extremely difficult, but Pokemon Mystery Dungeon makes them more accessible and gives a “for everyone including kids” spin on the Roguelike genre. Rogue-likes feature randomly-generated, turn-based maps/dungeons, tile-based battles, hardcore level-grinding (where you have to keep fighting many enemies to get strong enough to proceed) and often feature perma-death (meaning characters that die stay dead forever). Most of these games are dungeon-crawls, meaning the vast majority of the game takes place inside dungeons with multiple floors. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon however features fantastic character development, extremely witty and hilarious writing, and an incredibly deep storyline where the Pokemon themselves actually speak and talk, and are their own unique characters.

If you’ve never played a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game, I highly recommend it. And this is coming from someone who had never played a Rogue-like before nor is a big Pokemon fan!

Here is a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity trailer video.

About Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity:
Discover the incredible 3D world of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, where Pokémon speak and amazing adventures are always nearby! What’s more, you will become a Pokémon yourself! You’ll meet all kinds of Pokémon throughout the game, both in the towns you’ll visit and the Mystery Dungeons you’ll explore.

Have fun exploring more than 20 dungeons filled with all kinds of Pokémon, treasure, and surprises! Each of the dungeons you’ll explore has unique characteristics, including the Pokémon you’ll find, the number of floors in the dungeon, and the types of terrain you’ll have to deal with. Some of the Pokémon you battle will offer to join your team, too!

The first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game for 3DS.

In addition to the dungeons you’ll delve into during the main story, you can use the Nintendo 3DS Camera to discover Magnagates—entrances to new dungeons—by scanning everyday objects around you!

Join up with people nearby who are also playing Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity to explore and battle through dungeons together! Up to four people can play at a time. You can play as any of the Pokémon on your team—you don’t have to battle as your main Pokémon character.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity arrives for the Nintendo 3DS system on March 24th, 2013, both in stores and in the Nintendo eShop.

Here is a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity Demo Let’s Play Video.